Cross River: Children’s kidnappers reduce ransom to N5m

The two children, a boy and a girl, who were abducted in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, by masked gunmen on Tuesday morning, are still missing.

Emmanuel (10) and Agbo (4) were snatched on the Murtala Mohammed Road while their mother, Mrs. Juliet Eko, was taking them to school.

Their father, Mr. Johnson Eko, said: “My wife and our three children were driving out of our street into the highway when some people in a Vento salon car accosted her and used their car to block my wife’s car.

“They came out and pointed a gun at my wife. They asked for her phone and she gave it to them. Then they picked up our four-year old daughter.

“The elder brother, Emmanuel, questioned why they were taking his sister away and they took him too. It was at that point that the third child, aged seven, ran out of the car and headed towards the house.”

He said his wife begged the gunmen to take her car, a Toyota Sienna, and leave her children, but they ignored her.

Eko, a civil servant with the Cross River State Civil Service, said the kidnappers phoned on Tuesday afternoon and demanded N30 million ransom.

The matter was reported at the Federal Housing Estate Police Station.

A source close to the family said the kidnappers have reduced their demand to N5 million.

The source said the kidnappers have been contacting the family on Mrs. Eko’s phone.

The source said Eko was allowed to speak with his son, Emmanuel, who said they were okay.

It was learnt that the kidnappers said the children’s safety could not be guaranteed, if the ransom was not paid by yesterday evening.

Police spokesman John Umoh said: “At this point, the information we have is not for the public. Making it public might hamper a lot of things.”